LILLE, France, Dec 15, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - A boat carrying more than 60 migrants

capsized in the Channel off France overnight Thursday to Friday while
attempting to reach Britain, with one person dead and another in critical
condition, French maritime authorities said.

Among the 66 people recovered, "one unconscious victim, in critical
condition, was taken by helicopter to the hospital in Calais" while a second
"could not be revived," the authorities said.

French sea rescue coordinators at Griz Nez near Calais were warned during the
night that a migrant boat was in difficulty less than eight kilometres (five
miles) from the coast.

A rescue vessel arrived in the area at around 30 minutes past midnight (2330
GMT), maritime authorities said.

After the crew found one of the migrant boat's buoyancy tubes "deflated" and
people "in the water", they brought everyone they could find back to Calais.

Boats and aircraft are still looking for remaining survivors, with French
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin expected in Calais on Friday morning.

Tens of thousands of people a year have been making the dangerous crossing
over the English Channel from France in small boats, making the issue a
political priority for the British government and a bone of contention
between London and Paris.

The human toll has been high, with one of the worst-ever sinkings two years
ago claiming 27 lives.

In late November a migrant boat carrying 60 people sank and a man and woman
drowned.

And in August this year, six Afghans drowned after their small boat capsized.

French authorities say that boats are increasingly overloaded, with the
average number of about 53 passengers nearly double the average of two years
ago.

More than 28,000 people have crossed the Channel since the start of this
year, according to British government statistics running to the end of
November, compared with almost 46,000 over the whole of last year.